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Aspirin continues to amaze doctors, patients

Heart Disease

Greek physician Hippocrates prescribes willow-tree bark and leaves, which are rich with a substance called salicin, to relieve
pain and fever.

1832

A German chemist experiments with salicin and creates salicylic acid.

1897

Bayer chemist Felix Hoffmann chemically synthesizes a stable powder form that relieves his father's rheumatism. The compound
later becomes the active ingredient in aspirin.

1899

Bayer distributes aspirin powder to physicians to give to their patients. Aspirin is soon the No.1 drug worldwide.

1915

Aspirin becomes available without a prescription and is manufactured in tablet form.

1920s

Aspirin is used to treat symptoms of pain related to rheumatism, lumbago and neuralgia.

1948

Dr. Lawrence Craven in California notices that the 400 men for whom he'd prescribed aspirin hadn't suffered heart attacks.
He regularly recommends to all patients and colleagues that "an aspirin a day" could slash the risk of heart attack.

1952

Children's chewable aspirin is introduced.

1970s

Scientists discover that aspirin inhibits the production of chemicals, called prostaglandins, that are involved in inflammation.

1988

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposes aspirin to reduce the risk of a recurrent heart attack and prevent a first
heart attack in patients with unstable angina.

The FDA also approves aspirin for the prevention of recurrent transient-ischemic attacks, or "mini-strokes," in men, and it
makes aspirin standard therapy for men who have had strokes.

1998

The Hypertension Optimal Treatment study is the first to demonstrate a beneficial effect of low-dose aspirin in addition to
anti-hypertensive therapy in preventing heart attacks in patients with high blood pressure.

Aspirin continues to amaze doctors and researchers more than 100 years after it was marketed by
Bayer.

"There are few drugs where absolutely you have to use this, and this is one of them," said Dr.
David Sabgir, a Mount Carmel St. Ann's cardiologist. "Definitely a miracle drug."

Aspirin, which was first sold as a pain reliever, is derived from the bark and leaves of willow
trees. (Hippocrates first described its benefits in 400 B.C.)

It has appeared in more than 10,000 medical studies since 1966, according to MedlinePlus, a
medical database compiled by the National Library of Medicine. In the past three years, it has been
mentioned in more than 4,200 medical paper titles.

Since the 1970s, aspirin also has been prescribed to prevent and manage heart disease. Most
recently, the wonder drug has been linked to preventing cancer in the colon, lungs, prostate and
esophagus.

So what's the secret to its success?

Aspirin helps keep blood from clotting, Sabgir said, which is crucial for patients who have a
higher risk of heart attack or stroke because of family history or past occurrences.

Doctors recommend that women 55 to 79 years old who have never had a heart attack or stroke take
one low-dose aspirin a day if the risk of stroke is greater than the risk of gastrointestinal
bleeding, Sabgir said. Men 45 to 79 who have never had a heart attack should take aspirin if the
risk of an attack outweighs the risk of bleeding, he said.

Recommended dosage is 75 to 150 milligrams, but Sabgir said most doctors recommend doses closer
to 75 milligrams, the equivalent of one baby aspirin a day. He said taking a regular dose of
aspirin instead of a baby dose can have long-term effects on the stomach's gastric lining.

Dr. William Abraham, director of Ohio State's cardiovascular-medicine program, said taking
aspirin also can reduce the risk of having another heart attack or stroke by 25 to 30 percent.

"It actually really is what it's cracked up to be," Abraham said.

The benefits are so convincing that doctors say some people are popping a pill a day when they
shouldn't.

"A lot of people look at it as a vitamin when it's a medication," said Dr. Teresa Caulin-Glaser,
executive director of the McConnell Heart Health Center. "It needs to be treated with that same
respect. Aspirin is a powerful medication."

Even the miracle drug isn't risk-free, Caulin-Glaser said.

Patients should ask their doctors before starting an aspirin regimen to discuss side effects,
which include bleeding, breathing problems and rashes.

"I think they take it and think they'll never have a heart attack, but that's not the case,"
Caulin-Glaser said.